Okay, so where to begin? Beast mode is sleak looking, and I know this is Cheetor, but as Ravage this just works. A single issue is with the claws, yeah each one is articulated, but that also means the claws can and will pop off from time to time. The transformation process is pretty intuitive if you've ever messed around with the original Hasbro version, but with that being said, the arms have a mechanism that just doesn't feel good and feels like a massive break hazard. Robot mod is where things get interesting. This guy is taller than you'd think, and the articulation is actually pretty nice. The hands throw me for a loop because the hands can't really grip the blaster and it feels awkward to get it placed....but with that being said, after you get it in his hand it looks great. The tail is also interesting, as it has a pretty robust wire inside it, and can be used to hold him up which is a plus, but can get in the way for certain poses. Oh and the mouth fully opens in both beast and Robot mode, and the teeth are a bit sharp. All in all a great figure, just wish it had metal in the joints to help with the potential break hazards, and increase the feel in quality.

Presenting BWM-09B Blade Shadow Panther. Hoo boy, talk about mixed feelings. Looks-wise, he is gorgeous, hell downright sexy! But then, you start playing with him. Ooft. Dude’s big, but super light; the plastic feels thin and cheap. The articulation is awkward and weirdly limited - even more so in beast mode -, and the transformation, which is actually pretty simple is almost undone by two key flaws: 1) His shoulders pop from one set of pegs onto another for the transformation. Problem is, the beast mode side pegs are too close to the hinge for the joint to actually pop onto. I ended up trimming the things for it to work 2) His top and bottom halves are held together internally by a double hinge; the bottom part of it is flimsily popped onto a peg, which I found out as I accidentally popped the whole upper torso off. Scared the shit out of me, but I realised it was by design, and I just popped it back on. The real problem is the top part of the hinge - the one with an actual screw into the torso -, just won’t turn on its own without extra directly applied effort, adding unnecessary extra fiddling to what should be a very simple transformation. To be fair, it was only a real problem the first time I transformed him, as I didn’t see the bloody thing inside. From then on, it’s simply an inconvenience. Lastly, instead of instructions, he came with a 2d barcode that linked to a playlist on some Chinese guy’s channel, where I had to watch his video of the original deco of this figure to see how to transform it. Ooft. After all that, I think my only real regret with this figure is the feeling of being ripped off. 6/10